Lonny McCurdy chanted his way to the National Auctioneers Association Hall of Fame

Lonny McCurdy started auctioneering at age 14, and now after almost a lifetime in the business, the 78-year-old has been awarded that industry’s highest honor.

At its annual conference late last month, the National Auctioneers Association inducted McCurdy into its Hall of Fame.

“That was quite a surprise,” McCurdy said.

He’s semi-retired from McCurdy Auction, which primarily is a real estate auction firm. Braden McCurdy and Megan McCurdy Niedens, two of his three children, now run the business.

“I go in late and leave early,” Lonny McCurdy said.

He and his wife, Annette, have been winding their way home from the San Diego conference along the old Route 66. McCurdy spoke about the business from stops in Albuquerque and McLean, Texas.

How long has auctioneering been around?

It started . . . during Roman times. . . . Auctioneering is the fairest, most transparent way of conducting business. . . . Everybody’s buying under the same terms and conditions.

Who was the first auctioneer you heard, and did you immediately know you wanted to do that?

Well, my father was an auctioneer. He auctioned automobiles. That did not appeal to me.

But you found you did like the auctioneering part, just not the car part? Then Hutchinson auctioneer Joe Davenport and his father, Charlie, taught you more about the business?

I say my dad gave me the love for the business, Joe gave me my skills.

Instead of following your dad into the auctioneering business, you went into banking, but you continued to do auctions on the side. How did you make the jump to starting your own auction business in 1982?

There wasn’t a lot of loan business. I was getting busier on the side crying auctions.

Crying is an interesting word choice. Chanting is how you often refer to what you’re doing. Are all auctioneers taught that?

Every auctioneer sounds different. . . . (In) Europe they do not use what we call a chant. . . . They more talk their bid than chant their bid.

It’s hard to decipher what some of those chanted words are. Are they just nonsense words that you’re saying?

They’re not nonsense words. Some of them are bid, give, go, dollar, now. They give you a rhythm.

Because no one wants to hear just a bunch of numbers?

That doesn’t sound very good, does it? . . . Filler words were injected in the United States to make it more rhythmatic to make it something you could listen to all day.

How many words can you speak a minute?

Well, you don’t do it necessarily by words because a lot of auctioneers will use tongue rolls. . . . I don’t do that. I believe you should have clear communication with your buyers. . . . You sell different product different ways. Livestock auctioneers talk faster.

You do, though, count the number of items you sell a minute?

Ground speed is how many items you sell a minute. Tongue speed is how fast you talk.

What is the key to being a good auctioneer?

The product has to be represented properly. Clarity of terms and condition are important. . . . The customer has to have confidence that you are conducting a fair and honest auction. The product knowledge is important on the customer’s part. They should know what they’re buying.

Do you ever find yourself accidentally using auctioneer talk in real life?

Oh, no. When you’re on the block . . . it’s just like an entertainer a little bit. When you’re on stage, it’s one person. . . . In regular business atmospheres . . . we talk normal. Although our daughter speaks very, very rapidly. You have to listen very closely to her.

Through the years, you’ve gotten pretty good at recognizing someone’s nod or flick of a finger to place a bid, and you don’t usually confuse that with someone who is scratching his head. What’s changed with online auctions?

With the new online bidding, there is not room for error.

Online auctions — particularly after the pandemic hit — have changed a lot things, right, including with the addition of studios to your office?

We saw the changes coming in the auction business. . . . Our basement looks like a TV station. That’s a major change in the auction business.

What have been some of your more unique auction items?

It was an estate auction. . . . An older lady, and it was in her sewing machine drawer, we found a regimental flag fought in two campaigns in the Civil War. Now that was pretty cool. Also, in the Udall tornado years ago, we did an auction for an estate lady, and I found a bullet that has been authenticated. (It) was picked up on the Battle of Gettysburg, and it gave the date and the time and the year. . . . That was pretty neat.

Then there was the time you were selling 22 sheep, including some that were pregnant during the auction?

By the time we finished selling, we had 24.

When should someone choose the auction route instead of a regular property sale?

Well, right now, in this market in Wichita, it is still so strong I would be afraid . . . not to go at auction.

Meaning because there are so many offers at once for houses these days? Like six at a time?

Why not put those six people in competition with each other and let’s find out true price discovery. . . . What is the market for that? You hear every day about multiple offers. Put them all on equal terms.

What’s something no one knows about you?

I’m pretty sentimental.

How so?

I like antiques, collectibles, primitives. In fact, we just left a barbed wire museum in McLean, Texas, and we just inspected the very first Phillips 66 station in the United States. That’s in the same town.